Christine Manfield: Crisp okra and pomegranate salad

Australian Gourmet Traveller recipe for crisp okra and pomegranate salad by Christine Manfield.

Aug 18, 2011 5:03am

By Christine Manfield

Serves 6

Christine Manfield: Crisp okra and pomegranate salad

The deluxe Amanbagh hotel outside Jaipur has a fabulous organic vegetable garden that grows much of the produce the kitchen needs. My friend Sally was general manager of the property for four years, and she always looked forward to the season after the rains when the okra started growing. This is one of her favourite salads; it’s perfect on its own or as part of a shared table. - Christine Manfield

Ingredients

200 gm okra, trimmed and sliced

30 gm chickpea flour

1 tsp each chilli powder, ground turmeric and chat masala (see note)

1 garlic clove and 5gm ginger (about 1cm piece), pounded to a smooth paste with a little water in a mortar and pestle

Pomegranate salad

180 gm cooked chickpeas

250 gm pomegranate seeds (about 2 small pomegranates)

50 gm coriander leaves

50 ml lime juice

½ tsp each chilli powder and chat masala

1 tbsp olive or vegetable oil

Method

Main

1

For okra, combine ingredients (except okra and oil) in a bowl with 1 tsp salt and enough water to make a batter. Add okra, toss well to coat. Heat oil in a large saucepan or wok to 180C. Deep-fry okra until crisp, then drain on absorbent towel.

2

To prepare the salad, mix ingredients in a bowl, season to taste. Garnish with crisp okra and serve at room temperature.

Notes

Christine Manfield lists a recipe for chat masala spice mix in her book. You can buy a similar blend from Herbie’s Spices. by Christine Manfield, with photography by Anson Smart, will be published in October by Penguin Lantern ($89.95, hbk). Recipes have been reproduced here with minor style changes. Manfield hosts a 16-day “Tasting India” tour from Delhi to Hyderabad for starting 30 October.This recipe is from the September 2011 issue of.